Student Retention and Success Strategy 2023-2025

Overview

1. Northeastern University London (the University)’s mission is to be:

‘where the power of learning and discovery through limitless global connections are unleashed. This will be manifested by building on the institution’s current foundations to build differentiation in the UK market, to be a laboratory for global innovation and to become the European hub for the Northeastern network.’

2. Student retention and success is a University priority, not only because of the University’s regulatory obligations, but more importantly its commitment to engage its students in higher education and to achieve their full potential.
3. This Student Retention and Success Strategy (SRSS) supports the vision and mission of the University, by clearly defining objectives that will improve the experience of the students and subsequently improve retention.
4. The UK Quality Code Theme: Enabling Student Achievement, states an expectation for quality that from admission through to completion, all students are provided with the support that they need to succeed in and benefit from higher education.
5. The UK Quality Code Theme: Student Engagement, states an expectation for quality that courses are well-designed, provide a high-quality academic experience for all students and enable a student’s achievement to be reliably assessed.

Overarching Approach

6. The University defines a withdrawn student as a student who starts but is unable to complete and graduate from their registered programme. Withdrawn students do not include students who are on a break in studies or those who transfer from one programme to another.
7. Between 2017-18 and 2019-20, 13 students did not complete within three years. Of these, nine completed either after resits or a break in study, and two withdrew for family reasons. Only two left due to irretrievable academic failure. In terms of continuation, three students repeated Level 6, one student repeated Levels 5 and 6, and one student repeated Level 5. Three students proceeded to the next level or completed after a second sitting, and three proceeded to the next level or completed after a third sitting (Special Covid provision).¹ This shows that students are engaged, motivated, and supported to complete their studies, for example by Support to Study.
8. Recognising that the transition to higher education is challenging and the first-year student data has the highest withdrawal rates across the various undergraduate levels.
9. The most recent Level 4 data, 2022-23, provides a current picture as the University has grown in student and staff numbers:
   1. 68% of the students progressed to Level 5.
   2. 16% of the students progressed to Level 5 with trailing credits
   3. 6% of the students were offered a repeat year
   4. 6% of the students were recommended to withdraw due to academic profile.
   5. 3% of the students had irretrievable fails and withdrawn from the University.
10. For 2022-23, there was a high proportion of non-submissions²:
    1. Level 4 – there were 117 non-submissions
    2. Level 5 – there were 37 non-submissions
    3. Level 6 – there were nine non-submissions
11. Students are required to attempt all assessment elements. This level of non-submission, particularly for Level 4, impeded progression and achievement as second attempts were offered which would have been capped at the pass mark.

Objectives

12. To have a coordinated and systematic approach recruitment and admissions.
13. To enable students to prepare and transition into university.
14. To enhance the students’ engagement with their learning.
15. To build a sense of belonging within an inclusive learning community.
16. To promote health and wellbeing among the student community.
17. To enhance monitoring, support, and early intervention mechanisms in place so that students’ who are at risk of academic failure or withdrawal from study.
18. To facilitate students’ transition through their whole academic journey and into employment or further study.
19. To ensure robust data to inform ongoing improvement of the retention and success of students.

Goals for the End of AY 2024-25

20. Progression of students from level 4 to level 5 = 75%.
21. Students recommended to withdraw or irretrievable fails = 3%.
22. Students offered to repeat level 4 = 3%.
23. Number of number non-submissions for level 4 assessments is reduced to 0.

Monitoring

24. The Student Retention and Success Strategy will be monitored by the Executive Committee (ExCo) and Academic Board regularly.

Version History

Footnotes

¹UG Students Not Completing in Standard 3 Years 17-18, 18-19, 19-20. Data held with Registry.

²This excludes student who have approved extenuating circumstances.